Final Fantasy VI Walkthrough, Part Five: Returner Hideout and Lethe River

- After leaving Mt. Kolts you’ll find a mountain range that forces you north. Follow the path and you’ll find a small location on your right.

- Speak to the guard blocking the way inside and, after following him and speaking to the gentleman in the next room, you’ll hit a lengthy cut scene. Once it’s done you’ll be playing as Terra alone.

- Start by speaking to Locke, standing to your right. Beside him is a chest containing a Phoenix Down. Leave the room.

- Head left and north into an adjacent storage room. In the rear room you’ll find three chests containing a Phoenix Down, an Air Knife, and a Knight’s Code. Check the pot and the bucket in the rear of the room for an Antidote and an Ether, and if you check the right side of the room beside the boxes you’ll find a secret passage that leads to a White Cape.

- Return to the main room and speak with Sabin. The man behind the counter here will sell you items, and in the room to the south is an inn where you can stay for free. Check the pot north of the table where Sabin’s sitting for a Green Cherry.

- (If you investigate the north side of Sabin’s long table you’ll find a scrap of paper. Leave it where it is for a useless, but mildly funny, aside in a later scene.)

- Enter the room where you met Banon and speak to Edgar. Check the chest down and to the right for a Hi-Potion.

- Return to the entrance hall and speak to the guard blocking the front door. He’ll mention that Banon is outside. Go have a chat with the old guy and he’ll ask if Terra is ready to become the Returners’ ‘last ray of hope’. Multiple things can happen depending on your answer.

Say ‘Yes’ and Banon will give you a Gauntlet. You’ll proceed to a meeting cut scene.

Say ‘No’ and you’ll be sent back inside. Speak to the Returner in the rearmost room and he’ll give you a Genji Glove. Off to the meeting.

Continue to say ‘No’ and eventually you’ll be interrupted by a cut scene that will progress the story automatically. You’ll receive nothing.

The Genji Glove is ultimately more powerful than the Gauntlet since it allows you to equip two weapons and attack twice per turn, which, when you max out your damage (9,999 HP), will double your damage output. The Gauntlet will only be good for a little while before turning rather useless. Go with the Glove.

- Regardless of the outcome of all this, you’ll wind up headed to a new area, and Banon will (temporarily) wind up on your team, replacing Locke. He’s a fantastic healer at this point in the game with his Pray command, and can almost fully heal your whole team each round for free. Unfortunately, Banon comes with a dire caveat: if he’s knocked out, it’s game over. Put him in the back row and have him heal every turn, as Banon stinks at attacking.

Lethe River

This bit is… different. The Lethe River will guide you on a course through treacherous rapids, and you must choose which direction to go whenever you hit an intersection. The first and third intersections will ultimately lead you in the right direction regardless of your choice, while the third will lead you in a loop if you choose to go Up. You can use this loop to train for as long as you like, and if you have a turbo controller you can use this loop to endlessly train your team. (Though that’s not a good idea in the long run. Your stats will suffer.)

The enemies here aren’t too bad in general, though you need to be careful of the Lesser Lopros. They have an all-hitting fire attack that can inflict some serious damage if you’re low on health. Always target these things first.

After two save point pitstops you’ll wind up on a stretch of river patrolled by one nasty creature…

Ultros

Get used to this guy, as you’ll see him many times over the course of the story. Ultros tends towards the physical, and will strike your team with his tentacles. Tentacles that hit everybody aren’t bad; a tentacle that slaps one person really hurts. If Banon’s in the front row this can easily kill him. Heal consistently with Pray and use your strongest attacks to wipe away Ultros’ HP. Terra’s Fire spell is especially effective against the octopus.

Eventually Ultros will bug out. Once he does… well, the progression of the story changes just a tad.